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In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, each man possessed different qualities. For instance, Billy Bibbit had a coward-like way about him; especially when he is caught by Nurse Ratched with Candy and turns in his friends when she mentions telling his mommy about his incident. Also, I think that it is cowardly of him to commit suicide because he does it to escape the pain and consequences he has to face.

Like Billy, I think that many of the characters were cowardly. Similar to Billy was Harding. In the beginning of the book, Harding is all bark and no bite especially when he’s around McMurphy. Also, his rudeness toward his wife when she visits him is seen as cowardly for treating her so badly. Towards the end of the book though, he develops into a real man. He takes charge after the night with the girls and leaves the ward by choice after McMurphy is taken away. He achieved his goal of being picked up by his wife and returning to his normal life on the outside.

Also, Nurse Ratched is very cowardly. As a nurse of the asylum, she should be fully engaging in helping her patients with good therapy. Instead, she’s taken over by her hunger for power and control and doesn’t care enough about her patients to treat them with respect and give them the help that they need. I also think it’s cowardly of her to be participating in a “competition” with McMurphy in trying to be top dog. She is a nurse and she should act as so, not as a needy little girl who blows her top every time McMurphy says a word to her.

On the contrary, I have great respect for R.P. McMurphy. I admire his spirit and his motivation to never give up. He came into the ward with great pride and didn’t let anyone take it from him. Even though he ends up practically as a vegetable at the end of the book, he knew what was going to happen and walked through it with his head held high. I also think highly of his work that he did on the patients of the ward. He took them out of their vulnerable state and made them REAL men. He gave them reason: reason to believe, reason to desire, and reason to live. Most importantly though, he stored their hope: hope in themselves, hope for a better life, and hope in humanity. He was a father to the fatherless, a hero to the broken, and a savior to the dying. McMurphy was Jesus to them. He crashed into their lives and made them men. He was turned over to the nurse in the end and was in a state of vulnerability but Chief carried on his mission and gained a better life because of the sacrifices that McMurphy made. He put his life on the line so that the patients could have a better life, experience something greater. Without people like McMurphy in the world, hope would be nonexistent and Nurse Ratched’s would continue to rule.

In The Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman looks up to his brother Ben with eyes of appeal. He’s sees his brother as a “god” and wants to be just like him and wants his kids to be just like him. He thinks that his brother is a self-made man. This is portrayed by the way that Willy talks about him, references him, speaks to him in his hallucinations, talks to his kids about him, and they way he treats and acts toward him in his flashbacks. Willy always wants to give Ben the center of the stage and share his story with everyone, especially Willy’s boys. Willy wants his boys to be as much of a go-getter as Ben because Ben decided to go to Alaska and he came back rich. Willy decided not to go with him and obviously regrets his decision. Why wouldn’t Willy want his boys looking up to Ben?

Malcolm might disagree with Willy in saying that Ben was a self-made man because Malcolm believes that it is all culture based. I somewhat take his side also because he made very good points, especially about the American kids and Chinese kids doing math problems. Although, if someone has enough will power and determination I believe they have the power to conquer their dreams and break the system of culture influencing any and all decisions.

Howard Roark would defend Willy’s statement because he believes in the self-made man. He believes that all men are of their own power. They control their destiny and all great things in the world have come from at least one individual who thought of the idea first or created the invention first. He says that everything comes from some man, somewhere, during some time. Therefore, he would agree with Ben as the self-made man. Ben saw the opportunity to move to Alaska, find gold, and get rich and took advantage of it. He didn’t just wait around waiting for it, he ceased it himself. Obviously, Willy only wishes he had the guts and the drive that Ben had to get up and drop everything just to go achieve his dreams. Honestly, that’s something every person desires to possess.

If I had to choose, I would say that there is such thing as a self-made man. I definitely believe in people to follow their dreams. What’s stopping them? Their own fear? Maybe. But if they have the will power to conquer their own fear, they’re smooth sailing until they finally reach their dream and achieve it. All people can achieve their dreams. We all just need a little bit of support, motivation, and heart to want to go out there and get it. It is hard in our culture to look past its stereotypes and judgments but the people who do, are the most admired. The people who don’t pay attention to the judgments of others and their pointless opinions and just do what they love, are the people that you see movies being made about. The people who are self-made are the people who we all strive to be.

The Shrinker Dinker will be released for purchase in 1427. This incredible device will not only make the easiness of life better, but redefine mankind. The idea of this invention is to be able to shrink any item or object to a size small enough to fit in a woman’s purse. As seen in the advertisement, the Shrinker Dinker can shrink anything as large as a car. It has been found to be most useful for items such as camping equipment, suitcases for going on vacation, medical items that need to be carried with at all times, for sneaking food and drinks into movies (shhhh), and also groceries when transporting them into the house. While talking about all this shrinking, you may be wondering ‘Can I unshrink something?’ YES! There is a accessible switch on the top of the device that you can switch to in order to make your item/object grow back to normal size. Although, it is impossible to make something grow that has not already been shrunk. This is because when an item is shrunk, radioactive waves are transported to the item, thus shrinking it’s size. So when you go to increase it’s size, the Shrinker Dinker detects those radioactive waves and sucks them back out of the item, thus making it its normal size again. Something else you might be wondering is ‘Can I shrink a person?’ NO! This invention is for betterment of society and to ease the pain of everyday life challenges. THIS IS NOT A TOY. The Shrinker Dinker is sold in green, blue, purple, and red. It is the affordable price of $260 million. It will enhance your life in ways that you never dreamed possible!

Jane Teeling has been rescuing dogs in New York City for quite some time now. She mostly rescues and takes care of pit bulls. She especially has compassion for pit bulls because of their bad reputation. Jane believes that with the correct training and if put in the proper environment they are just like any other dog. She says, “If you say a pit bull is bad, you might as well say that dogs are bad.” Half of the dogs that she rescues and takes care of are pit bulls, and one third of all rescue or stray dogs in America are pit bulls or pit mixes. Jane says that she used to be in modeling and the fashion industry until she decided to have a career change and decided to be a dog trainer by taking in stray dogs and retraining them. Her efforts have helped 100s of dogs, and she hopes to continue in an attempt to redefine the pit bull status and reputation.

This story is significant because it is the example of an everyday, ordinary person trying to make a difference in her world for the betterment of all people, and especially the betterment of dogs. I admire her efforts to reach out to one of the most feared and hated dogs in America. This story also is special to me because I am a dog lover and I feel so sad when I hear that 100s of pit bulls are put to sleep monthly because no one will adopt them because of their reputation. I wish I could do something as marvelous as she is for those dogs.

I think stories like this deserve to get the same publicity as actual news stories. Especially stories like the one I chose because it is an attempt to reach out into society and help dogs in need.

I like this kind of journalism. Mine was in the form of a video and I liked it a lot because it was interesting, well made, and kept my attention. I think that the media of today should tap into this kind of way to spread the news and they should spread some of these stories because these are everyday people who are trying to make a difference.

I definitely think that Narrative.ly is a website promoting equality. It’s a place for people to go to express their thoughts or spread their stories. It definitely isn’t for seer entertainment. They already made that website #YouTube. But seriously, I think this website is an excellent way to help society really sit down and listen to stories that actually matter. I wish the best for this website so that more and more people can see it and feel inspired to go out there and make something of themselves that will be for the greater good! (picture of Jane Teeling)

A few hours later after the restaurant was closed, George and Sam received an unexpected guest. Ole’ Anderson walked through the door saying, “I’m ready for dinner.” Sam snickered and said, “Ole’ Anderson, it’s midnight. The diner is closed!” George chimed in saying, “Besides, Nick said you weren’t coming out of your room because you’ll get yourself killed! You must be shaking like a leaf under all those layers.” As he took off his scarf and coat to sit down, Ole’ Anderson responded, “The only reason why I’m shaking is because I haven’t eaten since breakfast this morning.” Pointing to Sam he says, “Now take you’re black cooking hands back into that kitchen and make me my usual before I make you my usual for today and pop you’re head right off of your Negro shoulders.” Out of fear, Sam stood up quicker than a race horse and sprinted his way back to the kitchen. George was worried about Ole’ Anderson and asked him, “Aren’t at least a little afraid that the killers might walk in any minute and pop ya?” Ole’ Anderson heard the shakiness of George’s voice. He said, “No. Not in the slightest bit. Just listen for a minute George. I’ve been a part of the mafia for too long… maybe even since I was 14. Anyways, I’ve been in this mess for over two decades and I’m tired of all the hiding, running, and sneaking around I have to do. You don’t know what it’s like to have to lie to every, single person you meet and every, single person you know. I can’t go on living like this.” George watched intently as Ole’ Anderson revealed to him a side that he had never experienced. George saw him sit there, depressed and exhausted as he stare out the window as if there was something awe-inspiring to see. George wasn’t sure what to do because he’d never heard Ole’ Anderson open up. He patted Ole’ Anderson on the back and started for the kitchen. He looked back behind his shoulder to find him in the same position of profound thought that he’d left him in. About seven minutes had passed when suddenly two loud shots and the sound of shattering glass boomed through out the restaurant. Sam uncovered his ears and looked at George with a face of fear saying, “Oh my gosh! Ole’ Anderson! They must have gotten him George.” George stood up from where he was crouched down after the loud shot. He was silent. George began walking towards the kitchen door, took a deep breath and pushed it open to enter into the dining area. His eyes were sealed shut because he didn’t think he’d be able to see the sight of his dead friend. He gained the courage and opened his eyes to find Ole’ Anderson sitting up in his seat with a fork and knife in each hand and said, “Why don’t you got my food in your hand? Trying to starve me or something?” George’s mouth dropped in shock to hear the voice of his, who he thought was dead, friend and looked around the room to find that the two loud shots were not the killing of Ole’ Anderson. They were the sounds of the bullets shot from Ole’ Anderson’s gun into Al and Max’s chests’.

Of all the poems included in the poetry presentation list, my favorite is Christmas Bells. I especially like this poem because of all the joy it portrays and radiates about Christmas. It’s a beautiful poem about the joy of Christmas spirit and it makes me want Christmas to come even sooner.

My favorite part of Christmas is the decorating. Of course, it is rather cliché to say this but it is true. I love putting up the tree, decorating the fireplace, hanging up the wreath on the front door and the lights on the bushes outside. There is something peaceful and absolutely joyful about the preparation time of Christmas. I especially love when everything is all put out and hung up and all the lights are on at night. Then I pull into my driveway and look into the house through our big window above the garage and see the tree, glistening in all of its greatness. Then I walk up the steps surrounded with lights and into the house to feel the warm air hit my face and take in the comforting scent of our “Christmas Pine” scented Yankee candle. It almost melts my heart into a big pile of goo and warms me all over. Christmas time is the most joyful and exciting time of year.

Along with the traditions of tree decorating and light hanging, every year I pay my visit to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. I look forward to putting on my red pea coat and warm boots and heading down to the zoo every year. While I’m there, I always buy cinnamon roasted almonds and hot chocolate (not at the same time of course). It is one of my favorite traditions and I hope to some day take my own kids there!

A memory I have of Christmas day is from when I was around the age of four or five. I was in kindergarten at the time and we made reindeer dust for the reindeer so that when they needed to fly away to the next house, they would have some extra “pizzazz” to take off and fly. So every Christmas Eve, I would make sure to put this sparkly dust into a plastic baggy and place it right next to Santa’s cookies and milk. Then, in the morning, just like every other child, I sprinted down the steps to the fireplace where I ALWAYS found an empty glass of milk, cookie crumbs, but never did I find my baggy. Then I would run to the front door window and hop up on a chair to get a good look of the outside. Every year, I would find my sparkle dust scattered in the snow next to the reindeer’s footprints. I remember screaming with excitement that the animals had used it. I was so filled with joy and happiness that I’m not sure if I even needed any more presents than that one.

The best part of Christmas is the love. Everywhere you look you will find a smile, a red nose, hear laughter, feel the cold air, and find love in all of these aspects. The love shared at Christmas time is the best kind of love because it is the most meaningful because the best love anyone has every received is the birth of Christ on earth. God in human form, sending His son down to earth is the greatest gift of love that any person could experience. He is the reason for the season!